El Djem

[Gaius Octavius]

Was the amphitheater laid out to collect the 'Wind'?

Did it have a canopy?

When was it erected and when was it last used?

How much of the population was 'Roman'?

[Melvadius]

Was the amphitheater laid out to collect the 'Wind'?

Did it have a canopy?

When was it erected and when was it last used?

How much of the population was 'Roman'?

 

 

I think that collecting the 'wind' is probably an accidental effect of the damage it has suffered over the years but any large building will be subject to a few vortices now and again.

 

The information that I have (from Hedi Slim El Jem: Ancient Thysdrus Mediterranean Heritage) indicates that the earliest amphitheatre was rebuilt at the end of the 1st century AD while the second was itself replaced by the large amphitheatre in the early 3rd Century AD which was probably modelled on the Collosseum in Rome. The amphitheatres use probably continued into the fourth century as some mosaics from the town depict gladiatorial games and wild animals into that period.

 

El Djem its outside circumference is 427m compared to the Colosseum's 527 m, but was built with its underground galleries to service the arena - including the two lift shafts seen in my arena photographs.

 

The interpretation is that given the pictorial evidence from Pompei of a canopy in use and given that the Colosseum was its model it would also have had a canopy.

 

Its later use tended to be as a fortress; in 647 remnants of the Byzantine army, defeated at Sbeitla, and the population fleeing the muslim invaders took refuge there. Then it was referred to as the Citadel of Kahena, a prophetess and leader of the Berber resistance to the arab invasion in the VIIth century. In XIIIth century 'the citadel was vigorously attacked by Ibn Ghania'. In 1695 the local tribes used the amphitheatre as a centre of their revolt against taxation by Mohamed Bey from Tunis who then used cannon fire to create two breaches in the walls. It was used again by rebellious tribes in 1850 when Ahmed Bey widened the breaches after which it effectively was reduced to being a quarry for building materials then in 1881 became a gunpowder arsenal for resistance against the French protectorate

 

As to its population it seems to have originally had a local Berber population as elements of the name Thysdrus have been compared to other Berber names but like most Romanised tons at its height there would have been a mixed population with Punic as well as Roman elements but I don't know of any census information which will say how many came from each population.

 

Melvaius

[Gaius Octavius]

What I meant by 'Wind' is that it is my understanding that Roman city planners laid out city grids in accordance with the 'Sixteen Winds' to more easily heat and cool, and move air around. I was thinking of ameliorating the effects of sand storms and sunlight here.

 

As to the canopy, when I looked for 'post holes' on the sides of the building, both in your pictures and those on another site, I didn't see any.

[Melvadius]

What I meant by 'Wind' is that it is my understanding that Roman city planners laid out city grids in accordance with the 'Sixteen Winds' to more easily heat and cool, and move air around. I was thinking of ameliorating the effects of sand storms and sunlight here.

 

As to the canopy, when I looked for 'post holes' on the sides of the building, both in your pictures and those on another site, I didn't see any.

 

I suppose that it really depends how often sand storms swept into Thysdrus in the Roman period and if they felt that it was an important enough issue to make the attempt to ameliorate the effects. I believe that sandstorms are fairly infrequent or at least generally confined to particular parts of the year - we were there in late February, so rather suspect they would have taken the practical view to hold games outside that period or at least if they did hold them then to suspend combat if the audience couldn't see the activity. (Possibly issuing a 'sand' check? )

 

As to evidence for the use of a canopy; the picture with the camel is one of two from outside the visitors entrance that also show the surviving upper course of the amphitheatre. The stones on top may have had holes drilled through them. If they did, and I remember the programme attempting to recreate a canopy correctly, these may be surviving beam 'slots' for the supports of the canopy. I have now uploaded a close up of the original image and a second photograph showing the most convincing stone from another angle. The one showing the visitors entrance and another view of the stone in question also shows a couple of people in an upper level so giving a better sense of scale to the picture.

 

Melvadius

Edited November 11, 2007 by Melvadius